This invention relates to latch assemblies used on vehicles to secure an engine hood or other pivotal member to another portion of the vehicle body. More particularly, the invention is a latch assembly especially adapted for use with pivotal engine hoods having a primary latch releasable from a remote location and a secondary latch having a release handle pivoted automatically to an exposed position outside the hood for quick, easy release of the secondary latch to allow raising of the hood from a partially open to a fully open position.
A typical vehicle hood latch assembly includes a primary latch which may be released either externally or from the interior of the vehicle as desired and a secondary or safety latch which holds the hood in partially open position after the primary latch is released. This prevents the vehicle driver's vision from being totally impaired by a completely open hood should the primary latch release or fail when the vehicle is in use. A common arrangement is to provide a release arm under the hood for operating and/or withdrawing the secondary latch to allow full opening of the hood. In most vehicles, the hood is biased upwardly by springs or the like when the primary latch is released thereby leaving a small gap or opening into which a person must extend his hand to grasp and release the secondary safety latch. Due to varying body designs, the safety latch release under the hood is not positioned in a uniform location and is often very difficult to reach. Trying to find the secondary release handle is often time consuming and frustrating, especially at night or when the vehicle operator is unfamiliar with the vehicle. One's hand can even be scratched, injured or soiled by reaching under the hood to release the safety latch.
One proposed solution to the above problems is the provision of a release rod on a secondary safety latch such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,244 to Kleisser et al. Such release lever is pivotally mounted to a secondary safety latch such that when the hood is partially raised, the rod is projected straight out through the grill of the hood toward the operator. However, such secondary latch and release rod are normally biased to a retracted position and are only extended through the grill when the secondary latch is engaged with a keeper member on the vehicle. Since the secondary latch and rod are always biased to a retracted position, the rod is pushed rapidly outwardly from its retracted position when the hood is slammed closed. This could cause an operator having his hand over the grill to be struck by the rod as it is projected rapidly outwardly by the slamming of the hood. Since an operator may have no warning as to the presence of the release lever which is normally retracted, such rapid projection upon slamming of the hood could, in some cases, cause injury. Moreover, the release rod of U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,244 must be guided by the grill structure of the vehicle thereby making installation on hoods without attached grills difficult and/or requiring additional support.
Another problem with prior known latch assemblies for vehicles is that of failure and release of the hood to a completely open position while driving if the fasteners for the assembly should unintentionally loosen or fail during use. Even though conventional latch assemblies typically provide both primary and secondary latches, should the fasteners fail, neither latch assembly would be operable thereby completely releasing the hood and possibly totally obscuring the driver's vision when wind pressure on the vehicle could force the hood open.
Yet another problem is the fact that many conventional latch assemblies require installation of parts on both the pivotal member or hood and the lower body portion for proper operation to hold the hood closed. Such separate assembly requires significant installation time and causes the assembly to be more expensive to manufacture and use. Such arrangements also require additional preparation of areas receiving the latch assembly on the vehicle again adding to the overall cost of use.
The present invention provides a solution to these and other problems encountered with prior known latch assemblies for engine hoods or other pivotal members on vehicles.